Paris vs. New York – Vive La Différence!

Does it make you happier to nosh on a bagel or aimez-vous manger une baguette? Does the Eiffel Tower entice you, or do you yearn to gaze out upon the Statue of Liberty? Are you an SJP/Carrie devotee, or did you fall in love with quirky Amelie? Do your eyes light up at the thought of a stroll down Broadway or 5th Avenue, or is the Champs-Élysées more your style?

Our friends at The Thought Catalog pitted New York City and Paris against each other and ranked them across 5 categories - citing that “The real differences between these cities are about quality of life and the way people view their relationship to both others and the world.”, with Paris squeaking ahead for the win with a final score of 4-3 over NYC.

This New Yorker cover story from 2014 suggests that with passing time and the global economy “New York has infiltrated Paris, and vice versa” – and thus the differences are becoming harder to find. I don’t agree that it’s quite that difficult yet, but don’t wait too long to visit both and see for yourself, because there is truly no need to choose one over the other. I’m thinking Paris in the spring, and New York City in the fall would be the perfect compromise, don’t you agree? Even better, hire experienced tour guides in both cities and you’ll be in for days and nights chock-full of the best each of these cosmopolitan destinations has to offer.

This short film - inspired by Vahram Muratyan’s original online travel journal, Paris versus New York, (which in turn spawned his book “Paris versus New York: A Tally of Two Cities”) – celebrates some of the key differences travelers can discover between these two iconic world cities – using minimal text and cheeky graphics. The online journal became one of the most buzzed-about sites on the net when it launched, and the book garners a healthy 4.24 rating on reputable Goodreads, as the arguments for and against each city still rage on. Enjoy!

If push came to shove and I had to pick just one, for me it would be Paris hands down. How about you?

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